Don’t weigh-in every day. The meal plan in the book has a place to track your weight daily, but you’re not supposed to let your weight stress you out. The best way to not let my weight stress me out is not to focus on it daily. We will only weigh in and do our measurements weekly.

Don’t start on Monday. The book recommends that you start the program on a Monday because it is easy. That doesn’t really suit our lifestyle because that puts phase 3 when you are relaxing and not working out on the weekend. We decided to start on a Thursday so phase 2 falls on the weekend, and I have plenty of time to psyche myself up for weight training. Then phase 3 is Monday through Wednesday and I can relax during the hardest part of the work week.

Don’t over track. Last time I tried to manage my Habitbull tracker, Fitbit, a manual spreadsheet, Instagram, Wunderlist, and Pinterest. That is a lot of apps that don’t provide additional value. This time around I will be focusing on the manual spreadsheet for meal planning, Wunderlist for groceries, and Fitbit to track my water intake and exercise. 3 apps are entirely manageable.

Don’t beat yourself up when you slip up. 28 days doesn’t seem like a long time, but when you are changing everything about your shopping, eating, and exercise routines there are bound to be missteps. The spreadsheet will help us plan and track, but just because there is some yellow and red already doesn’t negate all the green. We want this to stick, and that means making allowances for the occasional dessert!

With these updates to the program, and Clayton home for the next 23 days I know we can make it to the end.

Please share any tips you have about overhauling your lifestyle in the comments!